How to use a teleprompter

A teleprompter shows your script near the camera so your eyes stay on the lens while you read. Broadcast news has used them since the 1950s with a mirror that reflects text over the lens. Today, most people don't need the rig: a teleprompter app puts the script on your screen at the camera line and scrolls it as you talk.

The point isn't to read word-for-word like a robot. It's to have your material right there so you stop memorizing, stop losing your thread, and stop re-recording the same take. Done well, no one can tell you're using one.

1. 1

   Load your script

   Paste your text or bullet points into the teleprompter. Bullets work great for a looser, more natural delivery; a full script works when wording matters.

2. 2

   Put the text at the camera line

   Position the prompter window just under your webcam, at the top-center of the screen. This is the single most important step — it's what keeps your eyes on the lens.

3. 3

   Size the text and shorten the lines

   Make the font large enough to read at a glance and keep lines short so you read in phrases, not word by word. Less eye movement means it looks less like reading.

4. 4

   Choose how it scrolls

   Pick a scroll speed, or better, use voice-following so the script moves at your pace and pauses when you pause. Voice-following is what makes it sound like talking, not reciting.

5. 5

   Test, then record

   Do a quick read to check pace and size, adjust once, and record. With an all-in-one app the recorder is right there, so your script and take stay together.

• Recording at a computer? A teleprompter app is all you need — script at the webcam line, no gear.
• Want it to sound natural? Look for voice-following scroll rather than a fixed speed you have to chase.
• Recording and prompting together? An app with a built-in recorder keeps script and take in one place.
• Fixed studio with a pro camera? A beam-splitter hardware rig puts text directly over the lens — the one thing software can't match exactly.

For most people recording at a desk, Lumi covers it: voice-following prompter, recorder, and call invisibility in one app on Mac, Windows, or the web.